Chinese Dogwood Tree Named &#39;Losely&#39;

ABSTRACT

A Chinese dogwood named ‘Losely’, a rounded shrubby tree distinguished by the new leaf growth turning bright yellow in mid summer.

LATIN NAME OF THE GENUS AND SPECIES INCLUDING THE VARIETY DENOMINATIONOF THE PLANT CLAIMED

The plant claimed relates to a new and distinct variety of Chinesedogwood, botanically known as Cornus kousa var. chinensis, and known bythe cultivar name ‘Losely’.

This new cultivar was selected out of a crop of seedlings originatingfrom uncontrolled pollination, growing at Herman Losely & Son, Inc. inPerry, Ohio. This new cultivar was noted as distinctive because of thebright yellow color on the leaves in mid summer. As summer progresses,the yellow foliage will become flushed with red.

The ‘Losely’ variety is the only variant of Chinese dogwood of which Iam aware that displays these foliage characteristics. The followingselections of Chinese dogwoods are offered for comparison: Gold Star(unpatented), with gold variegation, but it develops a yellow centralleaf blotch that is present the entire growing season; Temple Jewel(unpatented) has a faint yellow central blotch in the spring,disappearing by summer when the leaves are mature; Madison (PP 16129)has gold foliage with red blotching appearing in summer, coloration notconsistent from year to year ranging from almost no color to some color.

The original ‘Losely’ cultivar was lost in a flood in 2006. Prior to theloss of the parent plant, the ‘Losely’ cultivar had been asexuallyreproduced. The oldest of the ‘Losely’ cultivar is approximately 6 yearsold and is approximately 2.4 meters tall and 2 meters wide. Branchingstarts at approximately 20 cm above ground level. There are 3 mainbranches. The largest branch is approximately 4 cm in diameter, the nextlargest is approximately 3 cm in diameter and the smallest isapproximately 2.5 cm in diameter.

The ‘Losely’ cultivar has been asexually reproduced at Herman Losely &Son, Inc. in Perry, Ohio, by means of grafting. All plants propagated bythis method have displayed the same unique characteristics of theoriginal plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a colored photograph illustrating the overall appearance ofthe ‘Losely’ cultivar in the summer.

FIG. 2 is a colored photograph illustrating the prolonged yellowcoloration on the leaves of ‘Losely’ in the summer.

FIG. 3 is a colored photograph illustrating the coloration of thecurrent season's growth found on the inner part of ‘Losely’ in thesummer. This coloration may range from green foliage to leaves withyellow advancing from the leaf petiole and the leaf base down the leafblade to varying degrees.

All of the drawing figures show the colors as truly as is reasonablypossibly to obtain in colored reproductions of this type.

The following is a detailed description of my new ‘Losely’ cultivar. Inall cases, where color is different from the typical and is considered adistinguishing feature of this variety, reference is made to specificcolors on the R.H.S. Colour Chart (1995 ed.) published by The RoyalHorticultural Society, London, England. Here follows a detaileddescription of the characteristics of this cultivar, as displayed by thespecimens grown at Herman Losely & Son, Inc. in Perry, Ohio. Colorationof leaves and bark may be variable, due to conditions of nutrition,stress, age of plant, location on plant and the presence/absence ofsun/shade. Plant part comparisons have been made using samples takenfrom a mature plant where growth rates and characteristics areconsidered typical.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

-   Parentage: Unknown — selected out of a crop of seedlings originating    from uncontrolled pollination, growing at Herman Losely & Son, Inc.    in Perry, Ohio.-   Hardiness: Hardy in USDA Hardiness Zone 4b (−25 degree F.)-   Growth rate: Moderate, more rapid in youth.-   Form/size: A shrubby tree 6-10 meters in height and spread at    maturity. Rounded as a young plant, maintaining that shape, with a    layered, horizontal branching habit. A wide range of factors,    especially location, age and if the tree is multi-stem or single    stem, influences sizes of stems and branches. It is not possible to    make a predictable correlation between the diameter of a primary    stem and any branch arising from it.-   Stems: Young stems initially smooth gray-green with whitish    lenticels present on all bark areas diminishing somewhat on more    mature surfaces. Bark on the lower trunk is of the color gray-green    (Grayed-green Group 197-A).-   Branches: New shoots green and purple turning to gray-orange over    time. One and two year twigs are Grayed-Orange 165A. The final    2.5-10 cm of the twig, exclusive of terminal buds may be red-purple    (Red-Purple Group 58A) on the upper side and green (Green Group    143C) on the lower side.-   Leaves: Deciduous, elliptic-ovate with acuminate tips and cuneate    bases 5-12 cm long and 3.5-7.5 cm wide. Leaf stalks are 5-10 mm    long. Leaf blades glabrous on top, glabrous underneath, lacking    tufts of hairs in leaf axils below. Newly emerging leaves in the    spring exhibit yellow-green (Yellow-Green Group 144-B), darkening to    green (Green Group 139-A). Many leaves of the current year's growth    flush become yellow (Yellow Group 13-B). Coloration begins in late    July to August in Perry, Ohio (41.81 degrees North Latitude by 81.13    degrees West Longitude). Overall, current season's growth found on    the inner part of the plant may range from green foliage to leaves    with yellow advancing from the leaf petiole and the leaf base down    the leaf blade to varying degrees. The more vigorous new growth    found on the outside canopy exhibits mainly solid yellow leaves.    Some leaves will also develop red coloration (Red Group 46-B) over    the yellow that appears in the areas of the leaf blade between the    veins. The red coloration remains until overtaken by the typical red    and orange fall color of the species. The coloration of the foliage    appears year after year regardless of weather conditions.-   Buds: Buds are two types — Globose, tapering flower buds averaging 7    mm in length by 5 mm in width at base, color gray-brown (Gray-Brown    Group 199-A) and sharply tapered vegetative buds averaging 4 mm in    length by 2 mm in width at base, color brown (Brown Group 200-B).-   Flowers: True flowers are greenish and inconspicuous found in a    rounded, central umbel approximately 1 cm wide and 1 cm high. These    flowers are surrounded by four partially overlapping tapered creamy    white bracts, forming a 4 pointed symmetrical star characterizing    each individual inflorescense. Mature bracts most closely resemble    Green-White Group 157-A. Bract average 4.5-5 cm long and 3.5-4 cm    wide, thereby producing an inflorescense with an overall width of    9-10.5 cm. Flowering commences last week of May to first week of    June in Perry, Ohio lasting about six weeks. Flowers of this    cultivar are borne more on the inside of the plant and are not    overly abundant.-   Fruits: The aggregate fruits as for the species are pinkish red,    globose and approximately 3 cm in diameter. They are initially borne    upright on a 5-6 cm long stalk, later becoming pendulous.

1. A Chinese dogwood named ‘Losely’, as described and illustrated, ashrubbery tree distinguished by the bright yellow coloration on theleaves in mid summer.